Ten Simple Steps to Getting the Man of Your Dreams
by LiaBelle
Summary: Lindsay comes across an email that may help her get the man of her dreams...drabbles!
1. Steps One and Two

Lindsay opened a forwarded email from her sister titled "Ten simple steps to getting the guy of your dreams." She normally hated these kinds of emails, but the title grabbed her attention. Reading it, she decided to give it a try, seeing as the man of her dreams wouldn't give her the time of day…

_1. Catch his attention. _

The perfect opportunity for Lindsay to put her plan into action happened purely by accident. She and Danny were alone in the locker room, both preparing to start their shift. The lid to Lindsay's coffee that she had bought from McDonald's on the way to work popped off just as she took a sip, spilling coffee all over the front of her shirt. "Oh no!" she groaned.

"Smooth, Montana." Danny snickered from the locker next to her.

_This is the perfect opportunity! _Lindsay though, smiling to herself for such genius. Without saying a word, she reached down and pulled her shirt over her head. From beside her, Danny's eyes popped slightly, as she was only wearing a lacy, black bra underneath. She shuffled around in her locker for the extra shirt she kept there – with her job, you had to be prepared for anything – and slipped it on. "Put your tongue back in your mouth, Messer," Lindsay smirked and turning on her heel, left the room.

_2. Act uninterested – guys want what they can't have._

Danny groaned and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his trademark wife beater underneath. "I hate dumpster diving." Lindsay just laughed at him. "You know you like it." Danny teased.

Lindsay tried hard not to look at his gorgeous body. "Like what?" she asked as innocently as she could.

Danny rolled his eyes. "You know what I'm talking about."

Lindsay looked up at him, her innocent little country girl look – the one that she knew worked so well – on her face. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Danny."

"You know that you would kill for a piece of me."

Lindsay scoffed. "As if. In your dreams, Messer."

The cocky grin faded slightly off of Danny's face. She really sounded serious. This was a new thing for him. Normally girls were tripping over their own feet to get a date with the infamous Danny Messer. In a way, he found Lindsay's nonchalant behavior exciting, maybe even a turn on.

Lindsay detected Danny's change in attitude. _This 10-step thing better work, _she thought, _or else I think I may just have to kill my sister._

**A/N I have to give some credit to the TV show "Ugly Betty" for inspiring the idea for this story. It'll contain 5 chapters – 2 steps per chapter. K, so tell me how you like it… this is the first time I've done a story consisting of all drabbles, so I'd like some feedback.**


	2. Steps Three and Four

_3. Make him jealous_

"How do I make him jealous?" I asked Ryan, my totally hot – but totally gay – next-door neighbor. "I mean, seriously, he can have any girl in New York!"

"Oh, Lindsay, my love, don't doubt yourself so much! You're beautiful and sexy and smart and funny; any guy would kill to have you." He paused. "Except for me…no offence."

I giggled. "None taken. Have any ideas?"

"You're in luck, baby doll, because I do…"

My cell phone rang the next day, just on schedule. Danny and I were together; working on some paperwork that Mac had assigned us to. "Hey, Ryan!" I said excitedly into the phone, glancing at Danny briefly. "Uh huh…" I reacted to what Ryan had said, even though it had nothing to do with anything. "Yeah, so can you pick me up here?" I paused for good measure. "Ok, great, I'll see you then."

"Hot date?" Danny asked when I hung up.

"Yep," I said simply.

Ryan arrived just as I got off work. I had changed into a sexy black little number, even though both Ryan and I knew that we were just going to go back to my place and watch a movie or something. Danny didn't know though, so hopefully he'd be fooled. "Hey, Ryan!" I hugged him when he came up to me. "Are you sure Enrique is ok with this?" I whispered, referring to his boyfriend.

"Don't worry about a thing, honey," he mumbled, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "You look gorgeous." He said loud enough for Danny to hear, but not so loud that it seemed staged - even though it really was. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." Danny passed by me just then, and I grabbed his arm. "Danny, this is Ryan. Ryan, this is my partner Danny."

"Hi," Danny said shortly, and then left the room.

Ryan and I held back out laughter until we got outside. "You're right, Linds, he's hot!"

"I'll tell him you said so, " I teased.

"So," Danny began the next morning, "how was your date with Ryan?" I heard the hint of jealousy and bitterness in his voice.

"Oh," I said, smiling – not because I was recalling the wonderful time Ryan and I had on our "date" but because of the jealousy in Danny's voice – "it was great!"

_4. Keep him close by._

There really was no way for Lindsay not to do step number 4. Being his partner, she was pretty much attached to his side – not that she was complaining or anything – 24/7. She wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do, other than go to work and investigate cases with him, to do what step 4 told her to do.

After some consulting with Ryan, Lindsay decided to pick up more shifts that she knew Danny was going to be taking – night shifts in particular.

"I thought you hated night shifts, Montana." Danny accused one night as they were doing yet more paperwork.

"I do, but the rent's gotta be paid," Lindsay responded, even though she really didn't need any extra money to pay her rent (Danny didn't need to know that).

"I know what you mean," he said. They worked in silence for several minutes. "How'd it work out with that guy…what was his name? Randy? Ray? Rudy?"

"Way to be discreet, Messer," Lindsay teased, "His name is Ryan, but I'm pretty sure that you knew that." The blush that was spreading over Danny's face was a sure sign that she was right.

"Well, how'd it go with him?"

"None of your business."

**A/N Yep, so there's 3 and 4. Three is definitely my favorite so far! What about you? Tell me in your reviews! That was a not so subtle little hint, if you didn't catch on.**

**xoxo**

**Lia**


	3. Steps Five and Six

_5. Make sure you things about him._

_6. Let HIM get to know YOU._

"Why do you never talk about yourself?" she asked Danny as he drove them to a crime scene.

"You never talk about yourself," he countered.

"Touché."

Danny chuckled. "What do you want to know?"

"I dunno…just stuff. I mean, I'm your partner, I feel like I should know stuff about you."

"Like what kind of stuff?"

"I don't know!" Lindsay replied exasperated. "Stuff about your family or your favorite color or what you like to do in your spare time."

"I have a mom and a dad and a brother, Louie, but you already knew about him. Um, I had a grandma, but she died a few years ago. And I have a dog."

"Really? You don't really seem like a dog person."

"What kinda person do I seem like?" he asked.

"Hmm…a boa constrictor kind of person." She teased.

"Oh ha ha ha." Danny said sarcastically. He paused. "What about you? What's your family like?"

"Ohhh…you don't even want me to go there."

"Yes, I do," Danny replied seriously.

"Fine. I have a mom and a dad, obviously, and 3 brothers and a sister. We all grew up on this giant ranch in the middle of nowhere. We had a dog and about a million horses."

"Did you have a horse of your own?"

"Yeah, his name was Star. He was all black except for a white patch in the shape of a star on his forehead."

"What an original name." Danny teased.

"Give me a break. I was like 10 when I named him. Anyway, he died about 2 years before I moved here, and I just couldn't bring myself to get another horse. But I do have a cat, now," she grinned.

"Oh, a cat. You don't seem like a cat person."

"You're so funny." Lindsay said sarcastically. "Anyway, back to you. You got me all talking about myself."

"What do you want to know now?"

"Um…I believe I asked about your favorite color and what you like to do in your spare time."

"My favorite color is green and in my spare time I like to read. Your turn."

"Read? You don't seem like a classic literature kind of guy."

"Again with the assumptions about my life, Montana!"

"Sorry," Lindsay laughed. "My favorite color is blue and I like to do anything out side when I have free time. Side effect of growing up on a farm."

"Blue?"

"Yes, blue. It reminds me of the Montana sky."

"Oh, don't you go get all homesick on me."

"I won't. It's just a lot different here, that's all."

They pulled up to the crime scene just then and their lovely conversation was cut short, but Lindsay smiled to herself. With 5 and 6 down, she only had 4 more to go.

**A/N Yep, so that's 5 and 6. I didn't like them as much, but I felt that they had to be there. Next, 7 and 8 (but I think you're smart enough to figure that out!!)**

**xoxo**

**Lia**


	4. Steps Seven and Eight

_7. Express your interest for a meaningful relationship – in front of him_

"You know what I think?" Lindsay asked Stella over coffee in the break room

"What do you think?"

"I think that there are no guys out there who you can have a good relationship with." Looking up to see Flack, Danny and Hawkes glaring at her, she hastily added "No offence, guys."

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one, Linds," Stella said, thinking about Frankie.

"Well, I'm highly offended." Danny announced, "Aren't you guys? Flack and Hawkes nodded their agreement.

"Seriously, what makes you say that?" Flack asked.

"I just want a nice relationship that isn't based solely on the physical stuff," Lindsay told them. "Seriously, all guys these days seem to be sex crazed, horn dogs. "

"She's right," Stella piped in.

"That's not true!" Danny exclaimed. "There's more to us guys than just that!"

"Then why have my last few relationships failed?" Lindsay asked.

"Have you ever thought that it might be you?" Hawkes snickered.

"No, I haven't, because I'm always the one who wants the relationship. That's all I want. Seriously."

"Whatever." Flack said, and left the room, soon followed by Hawkes. Danny left to, but not before giving Lindsay a strange look – one that she couldn't quite figure out.

"Danny likes you." Stella squealed the moment the men were gone.

"No, he doesn't!" Lindsay protested.

"Whatever. You think that if you want."

_8. Nothing new here, just good old-fashioned flirting._

"Good morning, Danny," Lindsay said happily as he got onto the elevator with her.

Danny looked at her, an odd expression on his face. "Um, Good morning?" he said it like it was a question. "Aren't we chipper this morning?"

"I guess so," Lindsay replied perkily.

"Is there something wrong with you, Montana?"

"No," Lindsay shrugged, "What? Is it a criminal offence to be happy in New York? Because it certainly wasn't back in Bozeman."

Danny just rolled his eyes.

Lindsay took a step closer to him. Once again, Danny looked at her strangely. "Something wrong?" he asked again.

She moved in even closer – so close that it seemed that she was going to kiss him. Instead, she reached up to his shoulder and pulled a piece of fuzz off of the rather tight, blue polo shirt, just as the elevator dinged open. "Y'know, blue really is your color," with that, she turned and walked out of the elevator, leaving a very confused Danny standing there until the elevator doors closed on him.

**A/N I know that Lindsay wasn't particularly flirty, but I didn't think she'd be a throw yourself in his face kind of girl…I decided that she was more of a subtle flirter. So, there you go.**

**xoxo**

**Lia**


	5. Steps Nine and Ten

_Leave him wanting more_

Well, the secret was out. Lindsay Monroe liked Danny Messer. It was too late to go back now.

"So is it true?" Danny asked as he got his stuff out of his locker, ready to leave for the day.

"Is what true?"

"Everybody's talking about it."

"Everybody's talking about what?"

"They say you like me."

"I do like you," Lindsay said with a cute little smirk. "You're a great friend."

"Ha ha." Danny said sarcastically. "You know what I mean."

"No, I'm afraid that I don't." Lindsay replied slyly.

Danny rolled his eyes and sighed. "You're infuriating."

"So are you," Lindsay said, taking a step closer to him.

"I said it first." Danny whined like a little kid.

"So?"

"That means your infuriating-er!"

Lindsay snorted. "You sound like a 5 year old."

"Well, you really do make me mad."

"So do you." Lindsay leaned in and kissed him thoroughly on the lips. Before a very shocked Danny even had time to respond, she had pulled away and walked briskly out of the room.

_Tell him that you love him – but only if you really do._

It had been a two months since Lindsay had first kissed Danny in the locker room – one and a half months since she had gotten the email from her sister. They had begun dating immediately after their first kiss and were very happy with the relationship that they had.

As it turns out, Danny was quite the gentleman. He'd leave Lindsay flowers in her locker from time to time or turn up at her house at 6 in the morning so he could cook her breakfast before they had to go to work.

Lindsay decided that it was time to finish the 10 steps. She knew now more than ever that she truly was in love with Danny. She tried several times to say those 3 simple, little words, but they were always interrupted or she chickened out.

She and Danny were curled up on her couch, supposedly watching a movie, even though neither of them really had any idea what was going on with the plot. It was rather hard for Lindsay especially, because on top of the fact that there were 3 words just bursting to come out of her mouth, Danny's hand was tracing lazy circles from its post on her shoulder.

"Something wrong?" Danny asked her.

"Nope," she lied, "Never been better." She lifted her head up off of his shoulder and kissed him, as if to prove her point.

"Ok." Danny said, and went back to pretending to watch the movie.

"Danny?" Lindsay said several minutes later, determined not to chicken out this time.

"Hmm?"

"I love you." She blurted it out as quickly as she could before she could stop herself.

Danny smiled down on her. "I wondered how long it'd take you."

"You knew?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah." He grinned that cocky little grin of his that Lindsay loved so much. "No offence, babe, but you're kinda obvious.

Lindsay relaxed and cuddled back up to him. "Well, at least I said it."

"Linds?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, too."

Finis 

**A/N I thought that was a cute way to end it, so…yeah. We're all done. **


End file.
